By Lindsey Letellier
I am an individual who is attempting to eat healthy, ethical, “good” foods, but with our current food system, it can be really complicated. The way all of the authors present the world’s current food system attest to the confusion I have. I am still developing what I like to call my food “philosophy” (i.e. what I will and will not eat and my reasoning behind my choices), but all the information and claims about food that exist confuse me and make me wonder if eating good food is even possible.
It can be overwhelming to think about eating food that is good for me, the environment, and other people because there are just so many factors that have to go into one food. The other thing Petrini sheds light on (and Pollan mentions about the French) is the fact that food should bring pleasure. I thoroughly believe that everyone should enjoy food, but it usually comes at a cost. I get excited about food trends and trying weird food combinations of food like fennel ice cream or spicy chocolate, but sometimes I have to step back and wonder if other people have this pleasure or not. As an Italian, Petrini probably puts a huge emphasis on pleasure because eating without it is like committing a crime in Italian culture. It may be at the cost of another person, but as Pollan mentioned, cultures that take pleasure in food are often healthier and have a better relationship with their food.
During these readings, I also couldn’t help but think of bananas. Yes, I know, it’s an odd thing to think about, but I love them! I don’t think I could ever give bananas. The taste is unique and they contain the perfect amount of sweetness, and I typically have at least one everyday. But, there is a problem with bananas: they will never be a local food because most climates in the United States don’t support their growth (Hawaii might be a exception). I would like to eat foods that aren’t exploiting the labor of someone else or being transported miles and miles (harming our environment); I would also like to know where my food comes from, but that is extremely difficult when it is being exported thousands of miles or even continents away. Even though I may never have a local banana or know much about where it comes from, I just don’t know that I could give them up, and eating a banana might technically contradict what my developing food philosophy.
At the same time, though, Pollan brings up the point that we should try to be local, humane, and just whenever possible because sometimes sourcing real food is too difficult to find. In another one of his books, he attempts to make a meal from ingredients he sourced himself and found making that meal to be extremely difficult. Our society is far removed from agriculture and farming (as Berry points out) that having a good food all the time is impossible, but we can attempt to change by avoiding processed, unjust foods whenever and wherever possible. So, I guess for now I’ll have to live with my mysterious bananas.
I like your term of eating as a philosophy. I am realizing that the good food movement goes far beyond simple recipes and extends to a way of life. Like we discussed at the conference, the local food movement encapsulates justice, education, democracy, and community. I believe if we can create a healthy food system, we can create a healthy society because it carries so many issues.
What I really enjoyed about your post was that you put the literature into a realistic setting with the example of bananas to point out just how hard eating “good” really can be. The authors with their manifestos often make it seem like eating good is as simple as following a to do list. Perhaps it isn’t wise to chase perfection. I doubt many healthy meals would be able to satisfy all requirements. I think it goes back to defining what is important to you in terms of good food. We need to touch back to our reality to put the theories in practice.
I appreciate your thoughts on the difficulty of balancing sustainable food choices with food preferences. Personally, I love mango and avocado, both of which don’t grow here so I can relate. A drastic conclusion could be to go live where these foods are grown. However cool that may be, that option is not available for the majority of us, and thus may not be reasonable. But, to continue your food philosophy line of thought, I think that philosophy without practice is missing an important aspect, the experience of philosophy. In other words, for individuals/communities to fully develop a philosophy I think they should test it out as part of the building phase of the philosophy.
For example, with the banana example (which works with mango or avocado, anything really), we should try not eating them for a short-meduim (several weeks+) and experiencing how it is not to have them, and what alternatives we find. This can be done with a small group of people / family unit that decide to test how a certain food philosophy would be.
What’s important in this process is to actively reflect with ourselves and other participants. This activity can be made with other philosophies: not using fossil fuels for transportation for at least a week (basically only walk / bike, and we can overlook the fossil fuel in the production of our close and bike). Again, what’s important is to see how actually this would impact our lives (people who work 30 minutes away would probably not be able to try the last one, which indicates the problem of distanced work/home ratio.
To wrap things up, I enjoyed your post and am up for the challenge of testing different philosophies!